No commissions, no ads, no advice. This Betterment profile draws only on public records, each linked so you can confirm it yourself.

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The short answer: is Betterment a fiduciary?

Yes. Betterment is a fiduciary when it acts as your investment adviser, and with $69.5 billion in client assets it is among the larger SEC-registered investment advisers. Publicly, it files with the SEC as Betterment (CRD #149117). As of its latest Form ADV (filed July 31, 2026), the firm reported $69.5 billion in regulatory assets under management (a firm-reported figure). Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) lists how it is paid: a percentage of assets under management. You don't have to take this on trust. These filings are public record, and you can check them yourself.

Its Form ADV also reports that a related person is a broker-dealer (Item 7.A), and brokerage accounts fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Ask which capacity applies to each account you hold with the firm. The firm must tell you. Get started with Truthifi

What "fiduciary" means: a fiduciary is legally bound to place a client's interests above its own. (More on fiduciary duty)

Betterment at a glance

✅ Verified from public filings, last checked October 5, 2026. Betterment (SEC CRD #149117) is a fiduciary when acting as your adviser, on an advisory-fee basis, with $69.5 billion in regulatory assets under management. Every figure below links to its primary source.

What	Betterment	Source
SEC CRD	#149117	IAPD
Registration	Investment adviser, with a related person that is a broker-dealer (Form ADV Item 7.A)	IAPD
Registered since	May 21, 2009 (SEC)	IAPD
Fiduciary?	Yes, when acting as your adviser	SEC adviser standard
Fee model	Advisory fees (no commissions reported in Item 5.E)	Form ADV Item 5.E
How it's paid	A percentage of assets under management	Form ADV Item 5.E
Regulatory Assets Under Management	$69.5 billion (Form ADV filed July 31, 2026)	IAPD
Client accounts	1,344,483 (1,334,211 discretionary)	IAPD
Employees	794 (34 in advisory roles)	IAPD
Ownership	Parent-owned	Form ADV Schedule A
Disclosures	Form ADV answers Yes to one or more disciplinary questions. Read them on IAPD	IAPD
HQ	New York, NY	IAPD

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Betterment fees: what you'll pay

What Betterment costs you tracks how it earns money, laid out plainly in its own filing. The firm charges advisory fees: its Form ADV (Item 5.E) reports no commissions for its advisory services. Its filing also discloses broker-dealer, insurance or other sales activity tied to the firm or a related company, business that can be paid by commissions. Ask which part of the relationship earns a commission and which earns an advisory fee. The details are in its Form ADV Part 2A. Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) lists how it is paid: a percentage of assets under management. Get started with Truthifi

Advisory fees are what clients pay the adviser directly, separate from any commissions a related broker-dealer or insurance business might earn. Since advisory fees scale with the $69.5 billion in regulatory assets under management rather than with trades placed, Betterment's revenue grows as account balances grow, regardless of how much trading activity actually occurs in a given year.

Who owns Betterment, and what conflicts does it disclose?

Betterment's ownership is spelled out in the public record. Betterment is owned by Betterment Holdings, Inc., as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV. (Form ADV Schedule A)

Its Form ADV Part 2A describes the firm's conflicts of interest, including how it and its advisers are paid.

Betterment SEC record: disclosures

To check Betterment's regulatory record, start with the firm's own filings. Betterment's Form ADV answers Yes to one or more disciplinary-history questions. Such a disclosure might cover a regulatory, civil or criminal matter tied to the firm or someone connected to it. Read each item in context on IAPD before drawing conclusions. Any Betterment disclosures worth reading are in that same public record.

On the record, it has been registered with the SEC since May 21, 2009, makes notice filings in 53 jurisdictions, and reports 794 employees, 34 of them in investment advisory roles. "Is Betterment legit?" comes up a lot. Anyone can look up its registration, CRD and filings and verify them directly. That confirms it's a real, regulated adviser. What deserves more of your attention is what you're paying and what the firm is earning.

Reading Betterment reviews against the public record

Star ratings and client comments describe what working with a firm felt like. They usually don't show what the firm reports to regulators. Before you weigh Betterment reviews, check three things this profile takes from the public record. First, how the firm is paid: it reports advisory fees and no commissions, but it has a broker-dealer or insurance connection. Second, who owns it and what conflicts it discloses. Third, whether its Form ADV reports any disciplinary history. Read reviews alongside the record, not instead of it.

How to verify Betterment yourself

Here's how to confirm all of it in three steps:

1. Check the SEC adviser record (IAPD): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/149117.
2. Read the filings (Form ADV / Form CRS): linked from the IAPD page.
3. Confirm the entity: match Betterment (CRD #149117, legal name BETTERMENT LLC) so you're reading the right firm.

What Betterment does and who it serves

On its Form ADV, Betterment reports providing financial planning, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, pension consulting, and educational seminars.

It reports providing financial planning to about 2,000 clients in its last fiscal year (Form ADV Item 5.H), a count the form keeps separate from the client totals below.

Its Form ADV (Item 5.D) breaks its clients down by type, about 1,022,488 in all:

Client type	Clients	Assets managed
Individuals	992,194	$46.63 billion
High-net-worth individuals	24,685	$17.12 billion
Pension and profit-sharing plans	4,792	$5.43 billion
Charities	11	$1.3 million
Corporations or other businesses	806	$347.6 million

It reports 1,344,483 client accounts, more than the roughly 1,022,488 clients counted above because many clients hold more than one account: 1,334,211 of those accounts are discretionary (the firm can trade without seeking your approval first) and 10,272 are non-discretionary (Item 5.F). Its main office is in New York, NY. Since 1,334,211 of 1,344,483 accounts are discretionary, the firm is trading on your behalf in the vast majority of cases, which means the advisory-fee percentage you pay under Item 5.E is largely compensation for decisions made without your sign-off on each trade.

It reports that it or a related person has custody of certain client assets, which brings extra safeguards such as surprise examinations. The specifics are in its Form ADV.

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The firm checks out in minutes. The real work is seeing everything you hold, together.

Confirming Betterment is registered takes a few minutes. However diligent your advisor is, they see only a fraction of your picture by default: the old 401(k) at a former employer, a spouse's holdings, fees folded into a fund. This is where Truthifi comes in.

How Truthifi can help

Truthifi links your accounts read-only and shows what you own, how it's allocated, how it's performing and where the risk sits, including single-stock exposure, returns next to a benchmark, a fee breakdown of the fees on each account, by type, and your Truthifi Score. You can share the accounts you choose with your advisor at Betterment. Get started with Truthifi

Prefer your own AI? A paid Truthifi plan lets you connect an AI assistant that supports MCP sign-in, such as Claude. Truthifi Connect is the lighter membership for people who only want to use their own assistant. Questions about your fees need Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+. Get started with Truthifi · See how Truthifi keeps your accounts secure

Ask AI about your Betterment accounts

Once your accounts are connected read-only, you can ask in plain English:

• "What do I own across my Betterment accounts and everything else, and how is it allocated?"
• "What am I really paying in fees across all of these accounts?"

Try it with Truthifi: start for free at app.truthifi.com and run a Monitoring Checkup (limits apply).

No commissions, no ads, no advice: Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice. Its access to your bank and brokerage accounts is read-only. Start free (limits apply). Monitoring Checkup is free. Link up to 10 connections. Plans and limits are on the pricing page → truthifi.com.

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FAQ

Is Betterment a fiduciary? Yes, when acting as your adviser. Its Form ADV reports a related person that is a broker-dealer, and brokerage accounts fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Ask which capacity covers each of your accounts.

Is Betterment fee-only? Not necessarily. Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) reports no commissions for advisory services, but the filing also reports broker-dealer, insurance or other sales activity by the firm or a related company, which can be paid differently. Ask how everyone you deal with is paid. The details are in its Form ADV Part 2A.

Who owns Betterment? Betterment is owned by Betterment Holdings, Inc., as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV.

Does Betterment have complaints or disclosures? Yes. Its Form ADV answers Yes to one or more disciplinary-history questions. Read each item on IAPD, in context. A disclosure is not by itself proof of current wrongdoing.

Is Betterment legit? Betterment is registered with the SEC (CRD #149117) and its filings are public on the SEC's IAPD site, which confirms it is a real, regulated firm. Registration doesn't tell you whether it's the right fit or what you'll pay, so read the fee and conflict sections of its Form ADV.

Can AI help me check whether I'm getting good value? Yes. Start free (limits apply): Monitoring Checkup is free and lets you link up to 10 connections. You can also connect an AI assistant you already use (such as Claude). On Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+ you can ask it, in plain English, about the fees on each of your accounts. Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice.

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About this fact pack

About this profile

Truthifi built this profile from the firm's own SEC filings (Form ADV and, where filed, Form CRS). Every page is reviewed by the Truthifi Team before publishing. The Truthifi advisor fact packs are an ongoing series checking U.S. investment advisers against their public filings, one firm at a time.

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• What is a fiduciary?
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• Are you paying too much? Why that might be the wrong question
• How to ask AI about your real investment accounts
• Robo-advisor vs. human financial advisor: which is better?
• All advisor fact packs on Truthifi

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A note on sources. The facts on this page come from publicly available documents, Betterment's SEC filings, each linked inline so you can verify it yourself (SEC data current as of October 5, 2026). This is general information, not financial or legal advice, and Truthifi is not affiliated with Betterment. Regulatory records change, so always confirm against the official sources linked above. Spot something that should be corrected? Email us at support@truthifi.com.